When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead

Here is the story of Jerry Weintraub: the self-made, Brooklyn-born,
Bronx-raised impresario, Hollywood producer, legendary deal maker, and
friend of politicians and stars. No matter where nature has placed
him--the club rooms of Brooklyn, the Mafia dives of New York's Lower
East Side, the wilds of Alaska, or the hills of Hollywood--he has found
a way to put on a show and sell tickets at the door. "All life was a
theater and I wanted to put it up on a stage," he writes. "I wanted to
set the world under a marquee that read: 'Jerry Weintraub Presents.'"

In WHEN I STOP TALKING, YOU'LL KNOW I'M DEAD, we follow Weintraub from
his first great success at age twenty-six with Elvis Presley, whom he
took on the road with the help of Colonel Tom Parker; to the immortal
days with Sinatra and Rat Pack glory; to his crowning hits as a movie
producer, starting with Robert Altman and Nashville, continuing with Oh, God!, The Karate Kid movies, and Diner, among others, and summiting with Steven Soderbergh and Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen.

Along the way, we'll watch as Jerry moves from the poker tables of Palm
Springs (the games went on for days), to the power rooms of Hollywood,
to the halls of the White House, to Red Square in Moscow and the Great
Palace in Beijing-all the while counseling potentates, poets, and
kings, with clients and confidants like George Clooney, Bruce Willis,
George H. W. Bush, Armand Hammer, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bob Dylan, Led
Zeppelin, John Denver, Bobby Fischer . . .well, the list goes on
forever.

And of course, the story is not yet over . . .as the old-timers say, "The best is yet to come."

As Weintraub says, "When I stop talking, you'll know I'm dead."

With wit, wisdom, and the cool confidence that has colored his
remarkable career, Jerry chronicles a quintessentially American
journey, one marked by luck, love, and improvisation. The stories he
tells and the lessons we learn are essential, not just for those who
love movies and music, but for businessmen, entrepreneurs, artists . .
. everyone.

Newsletter

Here is the story of Jerry Weintraub: the self-made, Brooklyn-born,
Bronx-raised impresario, Hollywood producer, legendary deal maker, and
friend of politicians and stars. No matter where nature has placed
him--the club rooms of Brooklyn, the Mafia dives of New York's Lower
East Side, the wilds of Alaska, or the hills of Hollywood--he has found
a way to put on a show and sell tickets at the door. "All life was a
theater and I wanted to put it up on a stage," he writes. "I wanted to
set the world under a marquee that read: 'Jerry Weintraub Presents.'"

In WHEN I STOP TALKING, YOU'LL KNOW I'M DEAD, we follow Weintraub from
his first great success at age twenty-six with Elvis Presley, whom he
took on the road with the help of Colonel Tom Parker; to the immortal
days with Sinatra and Rat Pack glory; to his crowning hits as a movie
producer, starting with Robert Altman and Nashville, continuing with Oh, God!, The Karate Kid movies, and Diner, among others, and summiting with Steven Soderbergh and Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen.

Along the way, we'll watch as Jerry moves from the poker tables of Palm
Springs (the games went on for days), to the power rooms of Hollywood,
to the halls of the White House, to Red Square in Moscow and the Great
Palace in Beijing-all the while counseling potentates, poets, and
kings, with clients and confidants like George Clooney, Bruce Willis,
George H. W. Bush, Armand Hammer, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bob Dylan, Led
Zeppelin, John Denver, Bobby Fischer . . .well, the list goes on
forever.

And of course, the story is not yet over . . .as the old-timers say, "The best is yet to come."

As Weintraub says, "When I stop talking, you'll know I'm dead."

With wit, wisdom, and the cool confidence that has colored his
remarkable career, Jerry chronicles a quintessentially American
journey, one marked by luck, love, and improvisation. The stories he
tells and the lessons we learn are essential, not just for those who
love movies and music, but for businessmen, entrepreneurs, artists . .
. everyone.

Jerry Weintraub has spent more than five decades in
show business, in the process earning a reputation as one of the
savviest negotiators, smartest producers, and shrewdest film investors
of our time. He has been praised and honored for his philanthropic work
and, as UNICEF's Man of the Year, was presented the organization's Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award.

Rich Cohen, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone, is the author of five books, including the bestsellers Tough Jews, The Avengers, and Israel Is Real. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, his dog, and many masculine children.

"Now, I could tell you stories about Jerry, but
Jerry is the first and best to tell them. He's funny and grumpy and
perfectly inappropriate. When it comes to work, nobody works harder.
When it comes to charities, nobody guilts better. And when it comes to
friendship, he has no peers. That's Jerry's great talent. He doesn't
just light up a room, he lights it on fire. He's a great producer, a
great organizer, a great friend, and truly the greatest showman on
earth."
(George Clooney).